Why You Should Start Working On Your Summer Body Now

Summer has just passed us here in Australia and it’s coming around soon for those in the northern hemisphere. But while you may have slacked off as autumn hit and put away your bikinis, you shouldn’t let yourself go just because the weather is getting colder. In fact, you should be working on your summer body all year round.

When the seasons change, it’s human nature to get out our sweats and slodge around the house after work, snacking on comfort food and snuggling under soft blankets while watching Sex and the City re-runs. Or is that just me? Hibernation often seems like the best option to survive autumn and winter, and when the warmer months come around, we have to really push ourselves to be bikini ready in time for the pool party or beach trip.

Around the same time each year, respective to your hemisphere, magazines will bring out articles about how to get your perfect summer body within a matter of weeks, but how realistic is that? Maybe if you didn’t eat the whole time. And is that going to be a long term result? Probably not, because you will switch back into the same cycle that you do every year.

This is exactly why we need to start working on our summer bodies right now. Whatever time of year it is, we need to continuously hit the gym, so we can feel and look fabulous, so we won’t have to go on a dramatic diet to shrink down come summer.

Personal trainer and Fitness On Toast blogger Faya Nilsson agrees that when summer comes, we’re compelled to pursue unattainable deadlines that are set at certain times during the year for special events such as Valentine’s Day, Christmas and the summer months.

“This typically involves radically changing your entire fitness regime, nutrition requirements and social life. But with 4 weeks until holiday, do you want to be a monk, shun dinner with friends, go teetotal, spend every spare moment on the treadmill, eat lettuce religiously and remove all fun from life?” she asks.

As a personal trainer, Faya knows all too well how we often seek quick fixes for special events that just don’t work because they are unrealistic, short term plans. Knowing that developing and maintaining a great bikini body is hard work, Faya encourages everyone to start working on their goal bodies with plenty of time to spare.

“This will guarantee you can have a life but actually make slow, steady progress towards your goal. Eat and enjoy wholesome foods with nutritional purpose and delicious flavour. Watch your body grow stronger – lift heavier, run faster, recover quicker. You can sculpt your body and ultimately the results you feel and see over time are more likely to stay with you over time because they become habits. A short term push has an end date in mind, beyond which you probably relinquish all of your progress!”

By creating good habits, you’re more likely to succeed and keep up your fabulous special event body all year round. Not only is this more sustainable, but it’s better for your body than a continuous yoyo diet. By taking things slow, you can really appreciate the results your body is giving you from your dedication and you’ll feel much better than depriving yourself for a month, only to binge afterwards and see your hard work disappear.

Faya says that starting your summer body early and keeping it up all year round is a much more realistic approach than changing your whole life for one month and then slipping back into old habits. Instead, new, healthier habits will be created and your goal will be much easier to reach.

“The final month push is fine too, but you’ll be starting from a higher base, and are more likely to achieve your target result!” Faya encourages.

After all, a balanced lifestyle is much easier to maintain than an extreme fitness and diet plan that will only last for two to four weeks. Start living happily and healthy and your body will show the results.

This is just the motivation we need to keep up our fitness routines as the evenings get colder and the mornings get darker. Plus, a great excuse to buy a few new pairs of tights for our winter workout wardrobe.

Images via fitnessontoast.com

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